{"id":89492,"date":"2025-02-15T10:22:07","date_gmt":"2025-02-15T10:22:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/alabama\/legislature-advances-key-bills-in-second-week-of-2025-session\/"},"modified":"2025-02-15T10:22:07","modified_gmt":"2025-02-15T10:22:07","slug":"legislature-advances-key-bills-in-second-week-of-2025-session","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=89492","title":{"rendered":"Legislature advances key bills in second week of 2025 session"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n

The Alabama Legislature has wrapped up the second week of the 2025 Legislative Session, with both the House and Senate meeting three times, leaving 24 legislative days remaining.<\/p>\n

House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Rainsville, highlighted several key legislative actions taken by the House this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe House passed legislation dealing with several issues of great importance to the people of Alabama this week,\u201d Ledbetter said. \u201cHB49 by Rep. Matt Simpson would allow our criminal justice system to impose the death penalty on those who commit heinous crimes against children. After two years of championing the issue and passing the bill in the House last session, Rep. Susan DuBose\u2019s \u2018What is a Woman Act\u2019 has now been signed into law. And Rep. Ed Oliver\u2019s bill that tightens job-seeking requirements for those drawing unemployment benefits now heads to the Senate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Death Penalty Expansion Bill Advances<\/h3>\n

HB49, sponsored by Rep. Matt Simpson, R-Daphne, would allow the death penalty for individuals convicted of rape or sodomy of a child younger than 12. The bill now moves to the Senate for consideration.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe that taking the innocence of a child is the worst of the worst crimes,\u201d Simpson said. \u201cAs such, it deserves the worst of the worst punishment. These offenders cannot be rehabilitated. I\u2019m happy the bill has advanced through the House, and I look forward to working with Senator Lance Bell as he handles the bill in the Senate.\u201d<\/p>\n

What is a Woman Act Signed Into Law<\/h3>\n

After falling short of a Senate vote last session, Rep. Susan DuBose\u2019s, R-Hoover, \u2018What is a Woman Act\u2019 cleared both chambers and has now been signed into law by Governor Kay Ivey.<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t be more thrilled to see this bill pass the legislature,\u201d DuBose said. \u201cAlabamians know what a woman is, and we have fought hard to ensure our laws do too. I am grateful to all my colleagues for their support in finally getting this bill to Governor Ivey\u2019s desk, and I look forward to watching her sign it into law. As a mother, I am grateful to know that my children and the generations to come won\u2019t have to worry about losing opportunities to men.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Tighter Job-Seeking Requirements for Unemployment Benefits<\/h3>\n

HB29, sponsored by Rep. Ed Oliver, R-Dadeville, cleared the House in a 75-26 vote. The legislation would increase the job search requirement for Alabamians on unemployment benefits, raising the number of employer contacts per week from three to five.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis legislation requires unemployed Alabamians to look a little harder for opportunities to get back into the workforce,\u201d Oliver said. \u201cAs we continue to attract new businesses and create jobs throughout our state, we need everyone who is able to work to do so. The bottom line is there are over 120,000 job openings in Alabama that could provide our people with significantly better livelihoods than relying on unemployment benefits.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dual Enrollment Expansion Heads to Senate<\/h3>\n

HB102, sponsored by Rep. Jeana Ross, R-Guntersville, seeks to expand access to dual enrollment programs in Alabama\u2019s public schools.<\/p>\n

\u201cDual enrollment programs offer an excellent opportunity for Alabama\u2019s high school students to be more college or career ready by the time they graduate,\u201d Ross said. \u201cWe need to ensure students have access to these programs and are not prevented from taking full advantage of them. I appreciate my colleagues in the House for supporting this bill and am excited to continue working it through the legislative process.\u201d<\/p>\n

The House will reconvene on Tuesday, Feb. 18, at 1 p.m., to begin the third week of the legislative session.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Alabama Legislature has wrapped up the second week of the 2025 Legislative Session, with both the House and Senate meeting three times, leaving 24 legislative days remaining. House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Rainsville, highlighted several key legislative actions taken by the House this week. \u201cThe House passed legislation dealing with several issues of great importance […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":89493,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11763],"tags":[33526,22505,10952,35720,1088,35219,14050,1619,40280],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-89492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alabama","tag-2025-legislative-session","tag-advances","tag-bills","tag-house-speaker-nathaniel-ledbetter","tag-key","tag-legislature","tag-session","tag-week","tag-what-is-a-woman-act"],"yoast_head":"\nLegislature advances key bills in second week of 2025 session - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=89492\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Legislature advances key bills in second week of 2025 session - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Alabama Legislature has wrapped up the second week of the 2025 Legislative Session, with both the House and Senate meeting three times, leaving 24 legislative days remaining. House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Rainsville, highlighted several key legislative actions taken by the House this week. \u201cThe House passed legislation dealing with several issues of great importance […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=89492\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-02-15T10:22:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/ledbetter-graphic-1.webp.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=89492#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=89492\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/#\/schema\/person\/34a251993513824056d80e6fd018db30\"},\"headline\":\"Legislature advances key bills in second week of 2025 session\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-15T10:22:07+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=89492\"},\"wordCount\":610,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=89492#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/ledbetter-graphic-1.webp.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"2025 Legislative Session\",\"Advances\",\"bills\",\"House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter\",\"Key\",\"Legislature\",\"session\",\"Week\",\"What is a Woman Act\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Alabama\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=89492#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=89492\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=89492\",\"name\":\"Legislature advances key bills in second week of 2025 session - Som2ny Network\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=89492#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=89492#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/ledbetter-graphic-1.webp.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-15T10:22:07+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=89492#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=89492\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=89492#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/ledbetter-graphic-1.webp.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/ledbetter-graphic-1.webp.webp\",\"width\":1600,\"height\":900},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=89492#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?bp_activities=1\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Legislature advances key bills in second week of 2025 session\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"description\":\"Daily Deals\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":86,\"caption\":\"Som2ny Network\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/#\/schema\/person\/34a251993513824056d80e6fd018db30\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Fsom2nynetwork.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Fsom2nynetwork.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Legislature advances key bills in second week of 2025 session - Som2ny Network","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=89492","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Legislature advances key bills in second week of 2025 session - Som2ny Network","og_description":"The Alabama Legislature has wrapped up the second week of the 2025 Legislative Session, with both the House and Senate meeting three times, leaving 24 legislative days remaining. House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Rainsville, highlighted several key legislative actions taken by the House this week. \u201cThe House passed legislation dealing with several issues of great importance […]","og_url":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=89492","og_site_name":"Som2ny Network","article_published_time":"2025-02-15T10:22:07+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1600,"height":900,"url":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/ledbetter-graphic-1.webp.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=89492#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=89492"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/#\/schema\/person\/34a251993513824056d80e6fd018db30"},"headline":"Legislature advances key bills in second week of 2025 session","datePublished":"2025-02-15T10:22:07+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=89492"},"wordCount":610,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=89492#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/ledbetter-graphic-1.webp.webp","keywords":["2025 Legislative Session","Advances","bills","House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter","Key","Legislature","session","Week","What is a Woman Act"],"articleSection":["Alabama"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=89492#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=89492","url":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=89492","name":"Legislature advances key bills in second week of 2025 session - Som2ny Network","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=89492#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=89492#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/ledbetter-graphic-1.webp.webp","datePublished":"2025-02-15T10:22:07+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=89492#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=89492"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=89492#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/ledbetter-graphic-1.webp.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/ledbetter-graphic-1.webp.webp","width":1600,"height":900},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?p=89492#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?bp_activities=1"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Legislature advances key bills in second week of 2025 session"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/","name":"Som2ny Network","description":"Daily Deals","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/#organization","name":"Som2ny Network","url":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","width":300,"height":86,"caption":"Som2ny Network"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/#\/schema\/person\/34a251993513824056d80e6fd018db30","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Fsom2nynetwork.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Fsom2nynetwork.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com"],"url":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=89492"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89492\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/89493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=89492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=89492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=89492"},{"taxonomy":"dealstore","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fdealstore&post=89492"},{"taxonomy":"offerexpiration","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/som2nynetwork.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fofferexpiration&post=89492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}